The number of applications to Harvard College’s class of 2030 rose 15 percent above the prior year, to 55,104, a record high when excluding the pandemic era test-optional application cycles, according to data released by Harvard this week. The class members, now in their first year at the College, will benefit from Harvard’s enhanced financial aid packages—free tuition for students from families whose annual income is below $200,000, and no cost to students from families with annual incomes below $100,000. Thirty-nine percent of the class pays no tuition, and more than half of those students also pay no fees, food, or housing expenses. Twenty-one percent of the class is eligible for federal Pell Grants.
In terms of racial and ethnic composition—all self-reported numbers—9.3 percent of the class identifies as Black or African American, down from 11.5 percent the prior year and from 14 percent for the class of 2028. (About 14 percent of U.S. citizens self-identify as Black, or Black and multiracial according to the 2020 census.) The shift comes after a Supreme Court decision led to a nationwide ban on affirmative action that first took effect with the admissions cycle for the class of 2028.
The percentage of students in the class of 2030 identifying as Hispanic or Latino, 11 percent, was virtually unchanged from the prior year. Self-identified Asian Americans represent 43.2 percent of the class, up slightly from 41 percent last year. Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islanders held steady at 2 percent of the class. Students who self-identified as more than one race were counted in the percentages of each of their chosen categories. Nine percent of the class did not report a race or ethnicity. Harvard did not release a figure for students who self-identified as white.
Members of the class, 17 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college, hail from all 50 states and 86 countries. International students make up 15 percent of the class—a figure that has remained steady in recent years despite efforts by the Trump administration, blocked to date by federal courts, to limit student visas.
Students from the Middle Atlantic states represent 23 percent of the class. New England is home to 19 percent. Students from the South each contributed 15 percent to the total, while 14 percent are from the Midwest and 13 percent from the Pacific region. The class includes 12 veterans.
Responding to the strong application numbers and a yield of 80.9 percent—the proportion of admitted students who chose to enroll—Edgerly Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Hopi Hoekstra noted in a statement that “A Harvard College education invites students to ask difficult questions, challenge their assumptions, and discover new interests. It is wonderful to see prospective students and their families excited about these opportunities, and I am grateful to the faculty, staff, and students who make the College such a vibrant place to learn.”
